Do You Recall The Marvelous Character Actor Of Film Noir, Erich von Stroheim?

Question

I found this 1945 film noir on YouTube, THE GREAT FLAMARION. I was entranced; the femme fatale is Mary Beth Hughes, and her captive heart paramour played by the wonderful Dan Duryea.

Turns out von Stroheim (1885-1957) was also a visionary director, making a film titled GREED, considered one of the finest masterpieces ever. However, most of the seven-hour movie was lost when the film was shortened, as a janitor threw all the cut-out parts away...also, von Stroheim was so temperamental and difficult to work with that he was banned from EVER working as a director again!

Anyway, here for your consideration is a photo, von Stroheim on the left with Gloria Swanson center, one of her finest sneers! Then below that I will put THE GREAT FLAMARION, definitely worth a look if you like film noir!

Answer 1

Yes, I remember him and see some of his work on TCM. Of course, Sunset Blvd is one of his better known but about a week ago, I watched this other film I hadn't seen before and really enjoyed it. Also starring a very young Joel McCrea. Also Robert Armstrong from "King Kong".

Comments

Rooster! What a delight!      

Answer 2

Yes, I especially like his roles when he plays WW1 or WW2 German military officers... they are a scream!    I think he himself must have had a fun time playing those roles.

Comments

@Tink: I agree. He seemed to take great pleasure in playing those parts. Especially with a monocle.

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Lol, yes, Rooster.  And his real-life persona seems to have been something of a put-on too.  His name, "von" Stroheim was assumed, and he certainly did not come from Austrian or German nobility.  Remarkably, when he speaks German in his movies, it is not perfect, and I don't know why, since he was in his twenties by the time he came to the US from Austria. Maybe that was also a put-on. 

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Tink, when I got so fascinated by his role in FLAMARION, I went to Wikipedia to learn more...and it said those monocled German officers were indeed his signature role for a long while......what a joy he is! 

I felt sad that he was such a genius as a director but got banned for life, too hard to work with...